Life Update: Top 5 Things You Should Know

It’s been nearly a year since I gave an update. Wow. I guess it’s been a year since I really posted much of anything at all. I think sometimes it’s easier to just snuggle up in my little apartment with Leif and forget about the day, rather than relive the day’s events. It’s probably time to crawl back out of my hole though and tell the world a little bit about the going-ons in the life of Grace Pilet Jacobsen and her bearded mountain man.

Here are the top five things you should know.

I was promoted in January of this year to admissions counselor at Keuka College. What does that mean exactly? It means that I get to chat with families, travel all around the state/country/world recruiting for a college I didn’t go to. It’s a particularly beautiful college though, which makes it a really easy sell. Just ask me about it sometime. I can sell it to you in 45 seconds flat. No, really, I’m pretty well rehearsed. The highlights of this job include that I was able to travel to Vietnam last March and I’m headed back there in October, with opportunities for more international travel still ahead. I also get to go to conferences about international education (already went to one in Boston and D.C.) and I have learned loads about social media and marketing. I was even given the opportunity to make my own video for the website! Check it out here.

Leif’s job is crappy, but it really has only made academia that much more appealing for him. Back in October, Leif found a position with Finger Lakes Health where they would pay him for Certified Nursing Assistant training, and place him on a sub-acute rehabilitation floor here in Geneva, New York. This was a HUGE answer to prayer as he was in desperate need of some paid patient care hours for physician assistant school applications. But, it is…crappy. Leif’s joke is always that he means that literally. There are certainly benefits however. He’s learned a lot of patience and now I know that if we ever do have a kid he’ll know how to change its diaper. Anyway, now that he has over 1,500 hours of experience, he has sent in applications all over the country for PA programs that begin in the fall of 2016. We should be finding out which school in the winter, so keep your eye out for that fun news!

We’re renewing the lease on our apartment. Leif fell in love with this apartment the moment he saw it. I think it had to do with the fact that I couldn’t reach any of the cabinets without the assistance of a chair and that Leif thinks, and I quote, “it’s not a Chinese hobbit hole.” As we went and looked at other apartments in the Geneva area, I finally conceded that we had found a diamond in the rough and I would sign for another ten months. I’m going to post some pictures of the apartment, but you are not allowed to judge me and my lack of decorations. I struggle in the commitment department since I’m never sure how long I am going to be in one place. I’ve done the best I can

My father has a pet squirrel. It has really been a treat to be so near to family this past year and, I have to be honest, I’m not sad at all that we’re going to be around for at least a little bit longer. We’ve been there for birthdays, for holidays, and even for church functions. We’ve been able to create new traditions (like singing Happy Birthday as loudly and as terribly as possible at every single birthday party), cheer (and drink) in Jonan’s 21st, and soon will go on a real-live family vacation to North Carolina. For our anniversary, we were even able to pop up to Maineand see Leif’s mom – certainly nothing like living on the other side of the world. But what about the squirrel? Meet P.B., short for Peanut Butter, the newest family pet. Completely friendly and basically house-broken, my father rescued it as a baby from their gutter which had somehow entrapped and killed its mother. It likes to run around the house at a breakneck speed and fall asleep inside my dad’s shirt.

We‘re happy. I don’t say that lightly. Life is not easy as we continue adjusting to life in the States. Somedays we’re lonely or miss real Chinese take-out, but we have each other and we’ve come to appreciate what this American-style life has been teaching us. We’ve learned how to pay bills, cook dinner, and do chores. We’re learning to balance work and relationships and we’re growing in anticipation of all the wonderful things God has in store for us. It’s going to be an insane next couple of years, but I know I picked the best partner possible for this adventure marriage.